The Surprise
by Katrine Laclyon HTTYD
Summary: Hiccup had been planning it for a long while, and finally the day came. But what when doubt sneaks into his mind? Will he go through with the plan, and how will Astrid react? A Hiccstrid fanfic for Valentine's Day.
1. Everyone Knows

**A/N:** **Usually I don't keep track with those different days, celebrations (except from the main-celebrations like Christmas etc.) and God-knows-what-not. But someone told me Valentine's Day is 14th February, so I thought, "Well, why not?" Fanfictions, guys, fanfictions.**

**This is a short – very short – story about Hiccup and Astrid – no arguments there, guys. I like the pairing, I support it, so deal with it. So... where was I? Oh, yes. It's about Hiccup and Astrid, but we'll also be seeing some of Briskir, Calypso and Diana the Green Stealth – if you don't know them and want to know who/what they are, you can read my fanfiction "Dragon Riders of Berk". All of them will appear there sooner or later.**

* * *

**Everyone Knows**

"See ya later!"

"Yeah, see you later." Hiccup smiled as he watched Astrid run over to Calypso who was waiting a few yards away. The girls had decided to have a trip to the other side of the island with their dragons. They had asked Ruffnut to come with them, but she had been in the middle of planning something with Tuffnut – and Hiccup _really_ didn't want to know what it was.

When Hiccup had asked if he could join, Astrid and Calypso had laughed and exchanged glances. Then they'd said it was a girls' trip only. Hiccup had felt a little uncomfortable about that – who wouldn't after asking to join on a girls' trip? – but Calypso had told him that there was no way he could have known it was for girls only, and that they all could have a trip another day.

So Hiccup watched Astrid and Calypso leave with their dragons. Then he glanced towards the Dragon Training Arena. He was planning to do it today, so...

He called for Toothless and the son of the chief and Night Fury set off towards the arena.

On their way, they passed plenty of people. Most of them said 'hello' or 'good morning', but some of them – actually only Gobber – stopped to talk. What bothered Hiccup, however, was the knowing smile the dentist/blacksmith had when he continued walking.

When the duo finally arrived at the arena, Hiccup found Fishlegs and Briskir there. Briskir was sitting in the middle of the arena, surrounded by some Terrible Terrors, while Fishlegs sat in front of him, together with Meatlug. It seemed the two of them were deep buried in some discussion about dragons and their preferred habitats.

"I'd say you'll find more of the Green Stealth in forests," Briskir said.

"But we all know the Green Stealth is closely related to the Night Fury. This means the Green Stealth should be able to habituate to all kinds of terrain."

"But, according to Calypso, the Green Stealth has this special skin-"

"Yes, the scales take colour after the terrain."

"Not just _any _terrain! It's only green!"

"Yes, I know," Fishlegs replied, eyeing a page in the Book of Dragons.

"Then it shouldn't be more to discuss," Briskir stated.

Hiccup smiled and shook his head. Ever since Briskir arrived at Berk, he'd showed a great interest in learning about the dragons. Fishlegs had taken it upon himself to learn Briskir all he knew about the dragons, and now the two of them spent most of the time having long discussions about the winged reptiles.

"So, can I announce my presence without interrupting something important?" Hiccup asked.

Fishlegs jumped and quickly turned. "H-Hiccup!" he said, a relieved smile appearing at his face. "I didn't hear you come. How long have you been here?"

"Not long," Hiccup assured and made his way over to them.

"Why are you here?" Fishlegs asked curiously.

"You wanted to talk to me," Briskir recalled. "Has it anything to do with... girls? Maybe one in particular?"

Hiccup felt the heat rise into his cheeks. "What makes you think so?" he asked, trying to sound slightly confused. Soon 20 years, and still that happened. He tried to force the blush away.

It didn't work – neither sounding confused, nor forcing the blush away. Briskir began laughing. "You know, even though I don't see anymore, I'm pretty good at guessing."

Hiccup sighed. "Very well. You're right. It's about Astrid..."

Suddenly Fishlegs seemed to light up. "Are you going to propose?"

"What?" Hiccup exclaimed.

"The whole village is talking about it, Hiccup," Briskir informed, doing his best not to laugh again.

"How... When... They know?" Hiccup felt his stomach turn into a nervous knot.

"Well, obviously not everyone," Fishlegs replied. "Ruffnut and Tuffnut are too busy playing pranks on others to care. Snoutlout doesn't know because... yeah, you know." Fishlegs made a face. "And Astrid doesn't know."

"She doesn't?" Hiccup's stomach slowly began untie itself.

"Of course she doesn't!" Briskir exclaimed. "It would ruin the surprise if she knew!"

Hiccup groaned. "How much does exactly 'everyone' know about it?"

"Just that you're planning to propose to her by midnight today," Fishlegs quickly replied.

Hiccup buried his face in his hands. Why couldn't people just stick to their own business? Of course he'd talked to his father about it, and to Astrid's parents, but that didn't mean the whole village had to know! He wouldn't really be surprised if all the dragons knew too...

"But they won't say anything before tomorrow," Fishlegs continued. "Your father told them so."

"Wait..." Hiccup lifted his head, his eyes narrowing at Fishlegs. "Dad told them?"

"What? Did I say that?" Fishlegs asked, seemingly beginning to panic.

Hiccup sighed. "Very well. So everyone knows, except from the twins, Snoutlout and Astrid. But they'll stay out of it until tomorrow."

Well, that would at least explain Gobber's smile.

Silence settled over them for a long while. Eventually Fishlegs seemed to get enough of the tension, since he broke it. "I'll just... leave you to talk, then. See you around later!" With that he was at his feet and out of the arena.

Hiccup and Briskir were left, glancing after him.

"So, what is bothering you?"

Hiccup glanced back at Briskir. The blind, young man wasn't smiling anymore. Instead he seemed curious, and maybe slightly worried.

"I'm just starting to doubt the plan..." Hiccup muttered, eyeing his feet, fiddling with the little box he had in the purse hanging from the belt.

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**A/N: Yeah, I totally think he's nervous. _Very_ nervous. What if Astrid says no? Wouldn't have been very funny, would it?**

**Just one more chapter, I believe. It will most likely be up by tomorrow, so see you around, and please review!**


	2. Proposal

**A/N: Hi guys! Long time no see, isn't that what they say? XD No, I'm just kidding around...**

**Okay, over to our case. Hiccup is being very nervous, and Astrid doesn't know. So let's continue!**

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**Proposal**

_(please read A/N at the end)_

It was dark outside, but most of the Vikings were still in the Great Hall, talking about the day's events. Most of it was just normal. Like one had lost a sheep, another had had an argument with his wife, and a third had caught more fish than they had place for at home – something Hiccup really doubted was possible.

Hiccup was sitting by a table together with his friends. Well, everyone except from Calypso and Briskir. The two of them had disappeared a while ago, saying they'd take a stroll through the quiet village.

This left Hiccup to spend time with Fishlegs, Snoutlout, Ruffnut and Tuffnut, and Astrid. He'd found himself gazing at her more than once during the evening. All the time he'd felt the knot in his stomach grow tighter and tighter as the doubt returned. What if she said no? What if she didn't want to talk to him? What if... _Shut up_, he told himself firmly.

He glanced nervously over at Astrid. She was laughing at something Tuffnut had said. That was strange. Usually she didn't show that many emptions. Maybe it was something about the whole day...

Hiccup took a deep breath and rose from the table.

"Um... Astrid, would you... join me for a while?"

She glanced questioningly at him, but then smiled. "Sure thing," she replied and followed him.

As the two of them left the Great Hall, Hiccup could swear many heads turned in their direction, but once they noticed him glancing their way, they returned to their conversations. Hiccup knew why they were looking at him that way. The reason why his stomach was a tight knot of nervousness.

Once outside, the knot seemed to untie a little. He smoothly covered his feelings and smiled at Astrid.

"Come, there's somewhere I want to take you."

"Oh?" Astrid glanced at him with a questioning smile, but didn't refuse when he grabbed her hand and pulled her along.

When they reached the outskirts of the village, Astrid clearly got curious.

"Where are we going?"

"You'll see," Hiccup assured her. They continued.

* * *

They had walked for about twenty minutes through a dense part of the forest, and it didn't seem to become any lesser dense.

Astrid had absolutely no idea of where they were headed. The whole day everyone had been so secretive. Her mother had had this sad, yet proud expression each time she spotted her, and she'd seen her father talking to Hiccup not long ago – and that was strange. Hiccup had always been a little scared of her father.

When she'd been to the other side of the island with Calypso, Calypso had had this secretive smile, and whenever Astrid asked what it was, Calypso would answer, "Nothing." It was enough to drive her crazy!

And on top of that, Hiccup had seemed pretty nervous the whole evening. Astrid wondered why. She was about to ask him when he stopped and turned to her with a slight smile.

"We're here," he announced.

Astrid glanced past him. Her eyes widened. "Is this...?" she asked.

"It is," Hiccup confirmed, and this time his smile reached his eyes.

They were standing at the end of some kind of a tunnel, overlooking a cove. The water was frozen, and snow was laying deep on the ground and the trees. It was the same cove where Hiccup had found Toothless the first time so many, many years ago. The same cove where Astrid had kissed him the first time.

"It is beautiful," Astrid breathed.

The sky was cloudless, the moon shone down and was reflected in the thousands of untouched snow crystals. The stars glimmered up there, smiling down at them. Just then Astrid knew magic was real. Magic really did exist. And it was there just then.

With ease she climbed down from where she and Hiccup were standing. She was nearly afraid of touching the snow. Afraid it would ruin the magical feeling.

"I'm glad you like it," Hiccup said from behind, trailing after her.

"I love it," Astrid replied, still eyeing the surroundings. For a while silence settled over them, only being disturbed by the soft sound of their breaths. Astrid pulled her cloak closer around herself as she stared up at the sky, trying to remember the patterns up there Hiccup had taught her.

Suddenly a cough broke the silence. Astrid glanced back at Hiccup. Now he was nervous again. She noticed he was fiddling with something he had hanging from his belt.

"Astrid Hofferson," he then said. He lifted his gaze to meet hers. Those green eyes she'd learned to love were filled with feelings as he took a deep breath – for what reason Astrid didn't know – and went down on one knee in front of her, holding forth a tiny box with a ring in. "Will you marry me?"

Astrid could've squealed in delight. She could've cried of happiness, or she could've laughed. She did none of those things. She slapped the side of his head.

"What took you so long?" she asked. He seemed totally confused. She pushed the box and the ring aside, cupped his cheeks with her hands and pressed her lips to his in a long-lasting kiss. "Of course I will marry you," she whispered when they broke apart. This time she smiled.

Hiccup seemed so relieved. He rose, took her hand in his and slid the ring onto her finger. Then he grabbed her and twirled her around. The snow spurted around them. Both of them laughed, until they fell into the two feet deep snow.

Astrid ended up with her head on Hiccup's arm. "How did you manage to keep it a secret?" she asked softly.

He made a face. "Earlier today I got to know that everyone – except the twins, Snoutlout and you – knew about it. Not very good for the nervousness."

Astrid smiled and snuggled closer to him. He put his other arm around her to keep her warm. She had nothing against it.

In the moonlight she eyed the ring which now was sitting at her hand. This had to be on her top 10 list of best moments in her life.

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**A/N: Short, but enjoyable! Thanks for sticking with me, and please review!**

**Love you all for reading, have a nice Valentine's Day, and maybe drop by another time^^**

**_Oh, and before I forget:_ Is there a special one shot/short story from the life in Berk _you_ want to see written? Through February 2014 I'm open for any suggestions, so it's just to PM me, or put it in a comment!**


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